Explanation on flooding

You have probably had thousands of letters regarding the Bognor Regis flooding, but I wonder if anyone has offered an explanation on why this has happened.

I am a local builder living on Chichester Road and like most residents in the North Bersted area, we are now living in a high risk flood area.

Due to the construction work that has been done in Bognor Regis and the surrounding area.

The first thing to point out is that this whole area is CLAY with possibly, eight to 12 inches of topsoil covering it.

Now the topsoil acts like a sponge holding thousands of gallons of water.

Water takes a very long time to soak into clay and moves very slowly along the surface and within its underground water courses. Problem 1

If you remove the topsoil from large areas of land, that water will travel or sit as a lake. This you can see with the Pagham flooding, the water there appears to have flooded into the drains until they can take no more, then comes to the surface at the lowest points.

The construction work that has been going on now for the last several years, from the East end of the new Bognor bypass, the housing estates to the Salt Box trading estate on Shripney Road. This has basically put an underground concrete dam between these points.

This dam has stopped the water from doing what it has done for many years which is trying to get to the sea.

Because the water can no longer move, it has been forced to collect and back up until it has found its route, this I might add is not just local rain fall but water travelling down from the south downs.

The water has therefore flooded Shripney Road and found its route down to the Brooks nature reserve and into the river, flooding Tesco’s, River side and many more properties in its path. Warning Signs.

This flooding happened last year as well as everyone knows. This year’s flooding is much worse, why?

What has changed in the last 18 months or so, the Salt box trading estate went in and Lidl the other side of Shripney Road. The Amazon building and the massive amount of earth works that have taken place has completed the dam.

Some water has found its way through to flood the airfield and fields east of the railway line. Yet construction continues and more sites have been approved for further development?

We all know that flooding has been getting worse gradually on and around the Shripney Road area, looking back probably originating when the Rolls Royce buildings went in.

We have had much wetter Octobers than this one. If something is not done before next October and construction continues on this site, next year’s flooding is going to be twice as bad, maybe worse.

Put another 18 inches or so to the depth of the flood water next year and Durban Road industrial Park and many other areas will be under water.

I think Tesco’s needs to think long and hard and plan for next October, until the powers that be do something to rectify their mistakes in not seeing the disaster they have created.

How can this problem be resolved.

Containment and controlled release.

I think the only thing that can be done now is to dig a massive lake, or better still a reservoir.

Location. The farmers fields north of the flyover. Controlled release into the brooks nature reserve and down to the sea. The river needs to be dredged and the flood gates at Felpham need to be fully operational.

You already have the proof of what I have written above, look at your aerial filming and see for yourself. homes are just some of the factors that make this season the most difficult. So together with our friends at Yakult, we have created the Stay Safe, Warm and Well guide, which is packed full of the most useful information, tips and advice to support people through the challenges of winter.

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